US airline disruptions soared starting this week as flight cancellations crossed 2,100, marking the highest since the federal government shutdown led to widespread operational cuts across the aviation sector.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that air traffic across the country could “slow to a trickle” if the government shutdown extends into the Thanksgiving holiday season, when a lot of people make travel plans.

The FAA last week ordered flight cuts at 40 of the nation's busiest airports after some air traffic controllers, who have gone unpaid for nearly a month, stopped showing up for work, according to reports.

The slowdown, now in its third day, is beginning to cause more widespread disruptions across 40 of the US’' busiest airports.

Airlines reported at least 7,000 flight delays on Sunday and more than 1,500 on Saturday. On Friday, they cancelled more than 1,000 flights, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions.

The FAA reductions began last week at four percent and plans to increase the cuts to 10 percent by 14 November. They are in effect from 6 am to 10 pm local time and will impact all commercial airlines.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta had the largest number of cancellations on Sunday, with over 570, followed by Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, which had at least 265 cancellations.

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In Georgia, weather could have led to disruptions in air travel, with the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Atlanta warning of widespread freezing conditions through Tuesday, AP reported.

The series of delays and cancellations has led to travellers facing significant inconvenience and uncertainty. One such traveller, Kyra March, recounted that she finally arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson at the start of this week  after a series of postponements the day before.

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“I was coming from Tampa, and that flight got delayed, delayed, delayed. Then it was canceled and then rebooked. And so I had to stay at a hotel and then came back this morning,” according to Kyra.

The FAA informed that the shortage of staff at Newark and LaGuardia airports in New York is leading to average departure delays of about 75 minutes.

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Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Michigan was mostly empty on Sunday morning, with minimal wait times at security checkpoints, as delays and cancellations filled the departure and arrival boards.